An omniscient narrator is called the one who is characterized by telling a story in 3rd person and who apart from this is not a character in the story, but is responsible for transmitting it from outside it. As the name implies, this is a type of storyteller who functions as a kind of god in history; This is because he knows everything about the characters in the story and the plots that arise, he can also predict the future, suppose and judge. However, it is usually as objective as possible regarding the contribution of the data, with the aim of not conditioning the person who is reading the story. The omniscient narrator was the most frequent in novels that were presented during the 19th century.
Grammatically speaking, we can highlight the fact that the writer usually uses the third person singular or the third person plural in order to give voice to the omniscient narrator. This is characterized by being a voice of the story that acquires great credibility with the reader, since it explains what has happened using objective data.
As mentioned above, the narrator will know all the details of the story, whether in the past or present, and can even guess what may happen in the future of the characters and the story in question.
Some of the main characteristics that the omniscient narrator has are the following:
- He knows everything: he has knowledge of all the data of the story, therefore he has the power to tell how the characters feel, so that the reader has more information about the scene in which the actors star.
- He does not make suggestions, he explains: he usually gives an explanation of what happens, he also judges and breaks down the causes and behaviors that the characters have within the plot.
- It has the ability to identify with the writer: as a consequence of not being a direct part of the story and staying out of it, it has the possibility of sometimes interpreting itself as the voice of the writer, especially if the narrator has some important judgment.
